


you're a sky full of stars

by Lire_Casander



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Anniversary, Fluff, M/M, Not Beta Read, Road Trips, Stargazing, Surprises
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-01
Updated: 2019-11-01
Packaged: 2021-01-15 18:22:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21257627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lire_Casander/pseuds/Lire_Casander
Summary: Michael had shown him that Alex deserved the world. He deserved to be loved, he deserved to feel whole again despite his missing leg. Alex deserved happiness, and when he decided to take a chance and be happywithMichael instead ofdespitewhat they had been through, Michael had been there to catch his fall. A year later, Alex is napping away in Michael’s truck while Michael drives them through the desert for a surprise road trip that’s been in the making for months.





	you're a sky full of stars

**Author's Note:**

> Happy birthday, Toby! I hope you have a wonderful day, and that you get to spend it with your loved ones!
> 
> _about the fic:_ title taken by **A Sky Full Of Stars** by Coldplay. Picture by Steven Miller, Astrophotographer. This is unbeta'ed, all mistakes are my own.

Michael pulls up at the cabin before the break of dawn, killing the engine and sauntering out of his truck in one swift movement. Alex is waiting for him, Buffy excitedly tapping the wooden floor next to him, with a duffel bag, following Michael’s instructions from the day before, yawning and rubbing at his eyes with lazy hands. He’s barely awake at this time of day, despite his Air Force days with tight schedules and nearly not enough sleep time. He’s been out of the military for one year, four months, a week, five days and an odd number of hours; he’s grown out of some of his old habits. Along with sleeping for as much as he wants to whenever he wants to, because his job as a freelance consultant offers him the peace of non-scheduled days, Alex has also lost the stress of always feeling like he’s being watched. With Jesse out of the picture – waning away in a hospital bed, choked up on meds to keep his unconscious seizures to a minimum – and his brothers in military prisons for treason and conspiracy for genocide, Alex has been free for the first time in his whole life.

He realizes Michael has been talking to him when he sees the cowboy frowning at him, hands on his hips and an amused twinkle in his eyes betraying the seriousness he wants to project. “Sorry,” he says sheepishly. “I was spacing out.”

“I know it’s way too early for you,” Michael laughs. Buffy barks excitedly when he crouches down and scratches her behind her ears. “But we have to get on right now, or we won’t be reaching our destination in time.”

“You haven’t told me where we’re going yet,” Alex tries to gather information of their road trip once again. He knows he won’t be successful: Michael has been planning this getaway for _weeks_ now, sworn to secrecy, and not even Max or Isobel know where they’re heading to.

“You know I won’t fall for it,” Michael shakes his head as he takes the duffel bag from Alex’s hands and helps him down the front steps of the cabin, pushing him slightly with his powers towards the vehicle. Buffy follows them, jumping at the chance to ride with them outside of his travel crate. “It’s-”

“A surprise, I know,” Alex huffs. He’s still half asleep, so he doesn’t fight Michael on the issue any further. He just hops inside the cab and buckles himself up before leaning his head against the window and closing his eyes. “You haven’t even told me how long it’ll take us.”

“Oh, some hours,” Michael says mysteriously. He’s climbed to the driver’s seat after placing Buffy in the backseat, Alex can feel it even with his eyes closed, he’s so attuned to Michael. “Go back to sleep, Alex. I will wake you up.”

Alex wants to reply, but he decides not to. Whatever witty remark he might have come up with would have been tampered by his sleepy slur, so he just keeps his mouth shut and revels in the feeling of riding shotgun in Michael’s truck, something he didn’t think he would do ever again. And yet here he is, falling asleep on Michael during their one-year anniversary weekend. They have been through so much, both together and apart; there was a time when Alex didn’t think they could make it through the pain, but they found light among darkness and they held onto it like a silver lining until the brightness engulfed them completely. They made it through the other side of the strife stronger and wiser, but also more careful and more in love than ever, if that was possible.  
For Alex, it had been a different kind of struggle; having to witness Michael’s downfall, the endless nights of bailing him out of the drunk tank, the ache of watching him get high on acetone and casual sex, the despair of seeing his antics after he broke Maria’s heart in his quest to turn himself as dark as the night. Alex had barely made it out the other side, his own grief forgotten in the midst of guilt and sorrow for what his own family – _himself_ – had done to Michael. When the alien cowboy had finally rose from the ashes of his burnt soul, Alex had crashed hard and fast, the reality of what he’d gone through colliding with the new world he was living in, a world where Michael Guerin didn’t need him anymore, a world without the threat of Jesse Manes’ wrath hanging over their heads, a world where he was nothing more than a cripple who only slowed everyone else’s flight. 

Michael had shown him that Alex deserved the world. He deserved to be loved, he deserved to feel whole again despite his missing leg. Alex deserved happiness, and when he decided to take a chance and be happy _with_ Michael instead of _despite_ what they had been through, Michael had been there to catch his fall. A year later, Alex is napping away in Michael’s truck while Michael drives them through the desert for a surprise road trip that’s been in the making for months. 

Alex doesn’t know for how long they roll through the deserted roads. He only wakes up when he hears Buffy barking excitedly from the backseat, her paws patting the back of his seat and making him shift uncomfortably. “Buffy,” he groans. “It’s way too early.”  
“It’s almost noon,” Michael jabs at him, one hand prodding at his arm. “You’ve slept the whole ride.” 

“Noon?” Alex opens his eyes in distress. He could have sworn he had only napped for a couple of hours, not almost six. “Have you driven all this time? Why didn’t you wake me up?” 

Michael winks at him when Alex’s gaze falls on him, bewildered and laden with sleep. “It’s okay, I’m a superhero, remember? I’ve had a little help from my powers, ” he says as he shows off by flexing his healed hand. It’s taken them a while to acknowledge the big elephant in the room regarding what that unblemished skin means, but now they can talk about it without either of them feeling guilty. “Buffy’s kept me awake the whole time.” 

“Where are we, Michael?” Alex questions as he opens the truck’s door and glances around. There’s desert for miles and miles around them, and a big rusty sign welcomes them to _Cosmic Campground_. He blinks back sudden tears. “What’s this place?” 

“Remember Steve, from college?” Michael begins. He’s walked around the truck to pick up the bags from the trunk and to open the door for Buffy to jump out. When he reaches Alex’s side, Michael places an arm around his waist and pulls him closer. Alex can feel the heat oozing from Michael’s body. He hums; Michael had made some new friends during his three years studying with a full ride similar to the one he’d let slip through his hands when they were seventeen. “He’s been taking pictures of this place for years now, and I might have bribed him into giving me some passes to the facilities.” 

“The facilities?” 

“You’ll see,” Michael says as he tugs him forward. 

After they’re clear for entrance, Alex notices that one of the bags Michael’s juggling along with his powers is, in fact, a tent. “Are we camping?” He feels like an idiot, asking so many questions, but his brain is still slow and he doesn’t connect the dots as quick as he’s used to. 

“Yeah, Alex, we’re camping,” Michael explains easily. “It’s the best setting, and Buffy can run around in the wilderness for a while. It’s safe in here,” he adds. They’ve had a few scares with coyotes trying to attack their baby, and they both always try to find safe spots for her to play when they’re out and about. “D’you think you can help me set up the tent after we eat something? Steve has secured us a spot far enough from the buildings.” 

Alex understands what the unspoken words in Michael’s speech mean – the wanting, the need, the _desire_ mounting in his gut and making his body awake at a much faster pace than his mind. 

It’s a fun afternoon after lunch, Buffy meddling while they nail the stakes to the ground and extend the fabric over the place, Buffy happily barking away as she chases some shadows while they nail each other in a heap of boneless sweat and meaningful kisses, their body tangled together as they relearn the moles and scars that draw the pattern of their entwined lives. 

The moon is already peeking at the horizon when they make it out of the tent, Alex wearing Michael’s cowboy hat and Michael wearing Alex’s t-shirt, holding a blanket big enough to engulf them both. They laugh at each other before Alex looks up at the darkening skies and gasps, breathless laugh caught in his throat. “This is so wonderful, Michael. Where have you taken me?” 

“This is a stargazing site, Alex,” Michael explains fondly. Buffy has reached them from her antics, and she lies down at their feet. Michael helps Alex sit down on the ground and puts the blanket around his shoulders. “I wanted to show you something.” 

Alex stares up at the stars shining in the sky, bright and afar and truly beautiful. Michael leans into his personal space, head on Alex’s shoulder, as he explains the different lights and spots, their names and their coordinates, until his finger points at one undefined black hole between stars. “There,” he whispers.

“There what?” Alex mutters back. He doesn’t want Michael’s warmth to ever leave him. He’d do anything to keep Michael pressed against his skin forever. 

“There’s Antar,” Michael elaborates. “That used to be home.” 

“Used to be home?” Antar is a difficult topic for Alex; he has yet to get over the fact that Michael’s been building a spaceship to escape to his home world. Alex has been dreading the moment Michael finally tells him that the spacecraft is finished, that he’s ready to flee Earth – and Alex – for real. 

“Yeah,” Michael sits up straight, making Alex miss his weight instantly. “It _used_ to be home. Now it’s just another planet orbiting around a dying star.” There’s an intent in Michael’s voice, a shadow of a feeling Alex can’t quite place. Even though he’s scared to look up at Michael for fear of what he might find if he searches his face, Alex lifts his gaze to meet Michael’s.

What he sees there renders him speechless, breathless. 

There’s a love so deep that Alex feels like drowning on it, a fire so forceful that Alex wants to burn in it. There’s adoration and self-assuredness. There’s so much Michael in that stare that Alex knows he can’t survive if he ever lets his eyes to drift away from Michael’s. 

“Home is you,” Michael states, getting up on his knees and producing a small parcel from his tight pocket. “You, and Buffy, and everything we’ve built for the past decade, the good and the bad. We’ve been through so much together, Alex, we’ve gone through so much pain while apart, that I don’t want to be parted from you ever again.” 

Alex blinks at him, his brain registering belatedly what’s happening. There’s a gleam in Michael’s hand, a chain, a clasp, and glowing pendant in the form of an _A_ and an _M_, intertwined in an infinite loop. The colors are nothing like Alex has seen during his travels through the world, and when he chances a closer look he notices that the brightness and the swifting of colors are the same of those in the pieces of the console that’s going to take Michael from him. 

The pendant, the chain, are made out of an Antar spacecraft console piece. 

“I want to spend my whole life with you, Alex. I promise I’ll never look away. Will you? Will you always look back at me? Do you want to spend your life with me?” 

Under the stars, showering them with their light from light-years ahead, Alex finds himself making the easiest decision of his life, after the pain and the strife and the grief and the desolation. He finds strength in Michael’s hands, hope in Michael’s eyes, love in Michael’s soul. 

He finds a future entangled in an answer that’s been years in the making. He takes Michael’s hand, covering the pendant with his own fingers, and squeezes.

“Yes, I will. I do.”

**Author's Note:**

> Cosmic Campground really exists! You can find all the information about it on [their webpage](https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/gila/recarea/?recid=82479). I've taken some liberties since I'm pretty sure it's really difficult to get permission to camp there to stargaze, but this is Malex we're talking about.


End file.
